1. The Scientific Revolution
Period 4:

2. I Astronomy in the Classical World
A) The Ptolemaic Universe 150 CE : The sun, moon, and planets orbited the earth in uniform circles. This view was officially endorsed by the medieval Church.

3. II Science in the Middle Ages
A) Medieval Muslims had universities, trained doctors, vaccines for smallpox, algebra…
B) Medieval Western Europe:
Alchemists tried to change ordinary metals into gold, but they did not use the proper scientific method.
Philosopher-theologian Thomas Aquinas ( ) rediscovered Aristotle and blended his ideas with medieval theology.
Medieval universities kept newly translated scientific texts (many due to contact with Muslims), and also provided infrastructure for intellectual communities.

4. III Influence of the Renaissance
A) The Renaissance (15th – 16th centuries) led to the Scientific Revolution.
Humanism encouraged individual achievement, and knowledge of Classical civilizations (Greek and Roman).
The printing press spread new knowledge
People began to question the Catholic Church
The Medici built an astronomical observatory and financially sponsored Renaissance scientists including Galileo!

5. IV Copernicus
A) 1453 Nicolaus Copernicus , an astronomer and mathematician, published On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres. He proposed the Heliocentric Model of the universe; the sun is the center of the universe. However, like Ptolemy, he mistakenly believed that planetary orbits were perfect circles.

6. Copernicus Continued…
B) Tycho Brahe (1546 – 1601) observed the movements of stars and planets every night for years, and recorded the data. His assistant, Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630), used Brahe’s data to prove that Copernicus’s Heliocentric model was correct. Kepler was also the first to correctly explain planetary motion.
Johannes Kepler
Tycho Brahe

7. V Galileo (1564 – 1642)
A) Galileo Galilei from Pisa was an astronomer, philosopher, and mathematician. He was appointed Royal Professor of Mathematics and Philosophy under Medici Ferdinand I. B) With the support of the Medicis, Galileo began to experiment more freely. C) In 1609 he invented a refracting telescope, which allowed him to magnify celestial objects up to 30x their size. D) He was the first to observe 4 moons of Jupiter, and mountains on our moon. This evidence without a doubt proved Copernicus was right. E) 1633 he was tried before the Inquisition for heresy. He was forced to recant and to live under house arrest. However, he allegedly mumbled “it does move” after his recantation.

8. Jupiter and its 4 Largest Moons
Today scientists estimate that Jupiter has 60+ moons! Io (far left) is the most volcanic place in our galaxy. Europa (center left) has a surface made of water ice. It is possible that a liquid ocean of water is under the ice… is there life there?

9. Primary Sources: Galileo
“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same god who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.” – Galileo Galilei
2. …The proposition that the Sun is the center of the world and does not move from its place is absurd and false philosophically and formally heretical, because it is expressly contrary to Holy Scripture. – Trial of Galileo, June 1633
“More than 350 years after the Roman Catholic Church condemned Galileo, Pope John Paul II is poised to rectify one of the Church's most infamous wrongs -- the persecution of the Italian astronomer and physicist for proving the Earth moves around the Sun…” NY Times Oct 31, 1992
“What is the mission statement for the Vatican Observatory? From Leo XIII’s letter establishing the Vatican Observatory in 1891, his intent was to show that ‘the Church and her Pastors are not opposed to true and solid science, whether human or divine, but that they embrace it, encourage it, and promote it with the fullest possible dedication.’”

10. V Isaac Newton ( )
Newton discovered the force of gravity is what keeps the planets in orbit around the sun.
Newton is also credited with inventing calculus.
“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” - Newton
Some historians believe that Gottfried Leibnitz actually invented calculus before Newton, and that Newton stole the credit!
Newton
Liebnitz

11. Newton’s Laws for Dummies!
“Prior to Newton and Galileo, most people thought that the forces causing motions on Earth and the forces causing the stars and planets to move were different forces. Newton realized that the same forces and the same laws of physics apply everywhere in the universe... Why do we fall down towards Earth rather than towards the Sun, another planet, or the people next to us? The force of gravity between us and Earth is larger than the force from any of these other objects. The force of gravity between two objects depends on the masses of the two objects and the distance between the centers of the two objects… No matter how far you got from Earth, there would still be some, very small, gravitational force between you and Earth. Astronauts in space are weightless because they are falling around the Earth, not because there is no gravity in space. There is gravity everywhere..” - Paul A. Heckert, 2008 “Newton's ideas about the universe held sway until Einstein introduced the general theory of relativity. But for most of what we observe in our daily experience, Newton's laws remain perfectly valid today.” Nova.com

12. Don’t Jump into the Black Hole!!
Black holes due to their massive densities may have the greatest effects of gravity in the universe!
For fun facts on black holes:

13. VI Other Discoveries from the Scientific Revolution
Scientist
Discovery
Leeuwenhoek
Perfected the microscope. Was the first to see microorganisms.
Robert Boyle
The first recognized modern chemist. He argued for the scientific method, and that all matter consists of tiny particles.
Priestly and
Lavoisier
Discovered the existence of oxygen.

14. Human Anatomy
The image above shows points for blood-letting (a common western European medical practice in the middle ages).
Andreas Vesalius (1514 – 1564) is often called the father of modern anatomy.

15. VII Scientific Method
Over time, a step-by-step process of discovery developed that became known as the scientific method.

16. VIII Philosophy and the Scientific Revolution
A) Francis Bacon:
“In order to test potential truths, or hypotheses, Bacon devised a method whereby scientists set up experiments, and attempt to prove their hypotheses wrong… Bacon insisted that experiments must be consistently repeated before truth can be known.” –Khan Academy
“Knowledge is power.”
“Half of science is putting forth the right questions.”
“But by far the greatest obstacle to the progress of science and to the undertaking of new tasks and provinces therein is found in this—that men despair and think things impossible.”
- Francis Bacon

17. VIII Philosophy and the Scientific Revolution
B) Rene Descartes: Descartes popularized deductive reasoning. You begin with a general statement, or hypothesis, and examine the possibilities to reach a specific, logical conclusion. The scientific method uses deduction to test hypotheses and theories.
“I think, therefore I am.”

19. IX Women and the Scientific Revolution
Samuel Pepys (male), 1667
After dinner, I walked to a meeting of the Royal Society of Scientists in expectation of the duchess of Newcastle (author of A World Made by Atomes 1653), who had desired to be invited to the Society. She was invited after much debate, pro and con; it seems many being against it. The duchess had been a good, [attractive] woman; but her dress so antique and her manner so ordinary, that I do not like her at all, nor did I hear her say anything that was worth hearing.
Gottfried Leibniz (male), German mathematician and philosopher, 1697
I have often thought that women of elevated mind advance knowledge more properly than do men. Women, whose position puts them above troublesome and laborious cares, are more detached and therefore more capable of contemplating the good and the beautiful.

21. HW Questions
How do YOU define the term “scientific revolution”? What are its origins?
Explain the geocentric vs. heliocentric debate, including its origins, the scientists who challenged the Church, and its significance in history and our understanding of the universe.
Why was Galileo put on trial? (*Use evidence from the primary sources) If you were Galileo, would you have admitted “guilt”?
Describe the origins of the scientific method. Is the scientific method necessary? Explain.
Using evidence from the primary sources, how would you describe the role of women during the scientific revolution?
Did the scientific revolution render religion unnecessary? Explain.
Was the scientific revolution truly revolutionary? Which is more enduring; a political revolution or an intellectual one?

22. Key Vocabulary Alchemy Francis Bacon Robert Boyle Tycho Brahe
Copernicus
Rene Descartes
Galileo Galiei
Geocentric
Heliocentric
Johannes Kepler
Lavoisier
Leeuwenhoek
Isaac Newton
Priestly and
Ptolemy
Refracting telescope
Scientific Method
Scientific revolution
Andreas Vesalius